Quotes of Chanakya

Taken together-incoherent.

They really don't seem terribly connected. And birds do build nests in trees that don't bear fruit...I've seen 'em do it.

I thought that the biggest gurus were reconciled with the inevitability of their own destruction...

These are the only two that depict some real wisdom.

The seventh one is surely true.It is seventh for a reason.

Sorry, That's too prejudiced for even a beautiful woman (and a youthful person like me) to believe it.

spider-

It is presumably referring to a force and not to individuals.The yang-you know.

"It's the ways of the flesh to war against the spirit
Twenty four hours a day you can feel it and you can hear it
Using all the devices under the sun
And he never give up 'til the battle's lost or won."

Bob Dylan. Solid Rock.

cf Barbara Stanwyk.

The force is a sort of spider web.

A force..... I think I see daylight.
As for youth, I seem to get the hang, but how could beauty ..........

Aah.Beauty!

It depends on which port you are sheltering from the storm in.

Is India particularly well known for its strategists? (Thinking back years and years ago to world history...seemed like India was most frequently somebody else's Bee-atch.)

Mills75 used this strange world to refer to India
I reckon this is not a dishonourable word, sir.
I must acknowledge, at this instance, your very ignorance towards Indian history. India was never in want of great strategists. When the westerners had only learned to crawl about, Indian ancient engineers had already built the Lanka bridge connecting the Srilankan peninsula the mainland India.
And have you ever heard of Aryabhatta( if you haven't shame on you )?
He was the man who invented the number system. Just wonder, what this world would have been without that invention?

Hmm... I don't think we can give credit for the numbers to one man only. Way back, incredibly long ago, people used a numeric system that allowed them to count to 5 ( or 6). There was only 1 2 3 4 5 and many. Since then the system has undergone a series of changes to what we have today.

But, a world without numbers would be a world without words. It would be a chimp society.

Mills75 look at the chronology I specified. And about Chanakya his quote may not appeal to you but they are perfectly applicable in the era he lived in. You will find lots of material about Chanakya on simple Google search. The way he raised a little child against all odds to make him a great emperor... A sensible historian will definitely be mesmerized when he\she would read about him!

You know how Alexander died! Due to India's strategic fight back.... So yes India is full of strategists. Even today US needed Indian Army's help in Iraq when they made a mess out there coz Indian Army is known for the quick strategic civilian reestablishment and setup like the Israeli troops.

But unfortunately Indian Army is very much indulged in handling its neighbor that it could not participate there.

The French have had many great minds, as well, and let's not forget the Eiffel Tower. They also have a similarly illustrious military history (i.e., finding themselves someone else's Bee-atch).

The U.S. needed India's army for cannon fodder--Americans tend to be less squeamish when it's our allies' soldiers who are dying instead of our own.

Alexander didn't die in battle. "Alexander died, possibly of malaria, typhoid or a viral encephalitis" (source). There are also the theories that he was poisoned as part of a conspiracy of his own nobles or accidentally by an inept physician (History Channel). His death may have been connected to an arrow wound he received in India. If so, his death would be attributable to a lucky Indian archer, not intelligent military strategy. Thousands of miles away from his own country, Alexander conquered much of India. Indian strategy didn't stop him, his soldier's refusal to take on a much larger army near the Ganges did. Had Alexander access to fresh reinforcements, he probably would have conquered all of India. Yet another example of India being 'owned' by a foreign conquerer.

The chronology has nothing to do with my comment. Chanakya's observations simply aren't insightful, nor do they have any intellectual depth. This is around the time of Aristotle in the west (and after Socrates and Plato), and after the time of Confucius in China and Siddhartha Gautama in Chanakya's on country. Compared to these precursors and contemporaries, Chanakya simply isn't an impressive thinker.

Heh…I guess we are talking about ancient strategists, isn't it? Eiffel Tower came long after. That bridge, sometimes referred to as the Sinhalese bridge, was built when the Americas were not even discovered! (You can be pardoned for finding this 'incredible')

I wonder why the word Bee-Atch has to be used again and again. That sort of aggravates me! I remind you, we are talking in terms of ancient history, and East India Company's rule over India is not something that happened in the primeval history. They started capturing the country in the medieval times. Lavish Indian kings like Jahangir were busy lamenting their lost love and building monuments, so the EIC saw that the coast was clear and shot off their tactics. I do accept that at this period of Indian history, we were in want of wise and cunning strategists who' d think practical rather emotionally.

John Steinbeck, Nobel-prize winning author, once wrote," If I wanted to destroy a nation, I would give it too much and I would have it on its knees: miserable, greedy and sick."

That is exactly what the British did.



Anyway, on to my points.


India was never in want of great strategies or strategists for that matter. From my knowledge bank, I can reproduce certain facts that illustrate how intellectually prosperous a country was India- during the ancient times, I add.

1.Aryabhatta invented 'Zero'. And yes, Cycaruz, there is a lot of controversy over "who invented the number system" but as far as zero is concerned it is solely Aryabhatta's patent.

2. World's first university was first University was established at Takshila in 700 B.C. More than 10500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects. The University of Nalanda built in the 4th Century BC was one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education.

3. The art of navigation was born in the river Sindh 500 years ago. The very word "Navigation" is derived from the word NAVGATH.

4.Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus came from India. Sridharacharya invented quadratic equations in the 11th Century.

5.Chess was invented by India.

6.Sushruta is the father of surgery. 2600 years ago, he and health scientists of his time conducted surgeries like caesareans, cataracts, fractures and urinary stones. Usage of anesthesia was well known in ancient India.
7. When many cultures in the world were only nomadic forest dwellers over 5000 years ago, Indians established Harappan culture in Sindhu Valley better known as Indus Valley Civilization.

8. The place value system, the decimal system was developed in India in 100 B.C.



AWWW…The word count says 439 words, sorry I got carried away. For now, this is sufficient. This already looks like a history tutorial thread. LOL

spidergal: don't take this as patronizing, but do you know what a 'strategist' is? Generally, when one uses the word 'strategist', it refers to a person who creates plans to win a competitive struggle, usually in war, but also in politics and business. 'Strategist' is not synonymous with 'genius.'

I have referred to India's intellectual prosperity.
As for strategists, I just said we were in no want of them. My last post has nothing to do with war strategists.

Thumbs up to the indians... eh... indies perhaps... indianians..? Err... what are they called?

And don't say hindus, because that's not it.

Zero, or nothing, is a universal concept, and it has been around for far longer than humans, so I doubt that Aryabhatta "invented" zero. If you say that he was the first to transform the concept of nothing into a numerical value I'm no longer able to object.